Biathlete Killed While Training In Fort Fairfield

Police say 20-year old Willie Neal of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was training on the North Caribou Road when he was struck from behind. The driver of the vehicle was Erik Lundquist, 18, who had just graduated from Fort Fairfield High School.

The accident took place at 8:34 Sunday night. Neal was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neal was rollerskiing with one of Maine's best known biathletes, Hillary McNamee, a Fort Fairfield native, when the accident occured. McNamee, who is also on the Junior National Team, was not injured.

The North Caribou Road is described as a quiet two-lane road. It does not have a bike lane like several roads in the area. A spokesman for the Fort Fairfield police told News Center that it is not unusual to see rollerskiers in the area although they are rarely on the North Caribou Road because of the lack of a bike lane.

Neal and McNamee were skiing with traffic, which is the proper direction, when the accident occured at 8:34 P. M. The National Weather Service reports that the sun set at 8:30 P. M. and that skies were mostly cloudy at the time of the accident.

Fort Fairfield police are investigating and are not saying if any charges will be filed.

Neal had been accepted at Middlebury College and had deferred a year in order to train in the biathlon at the Maine Winter Sports Center. He was vieing for a spot on the world junior team. He was ranked fifth in the nation among junior biathletes.

"Willie was a talented young athlete," said Andy Shepard, President of the Maine Winter Sports Center. "He was a smart and inquisitive young man and exactly the kind of athlete we look for."

Neal had been named to the MWSC's regional team last month. "He was a role model others looked up to and we were excited to have him join our program," Shepard said. "This is a devastating blow to the entire US nordic skiing family and on behalf of the volunteers, athletes, staff and board of the MWSC; our thougts and prayers go out to the Neal family."